Free Dirt Records
Free Dirt Records is a Grammy-nominated independent record label founded in 2006 by John Smith and Erica Haskell that releases folk and roots music.History
Free Dirt Records was founded while John Smith was working at Smithsonian Folkways. There he collaborated with an intern named Erica Haskell on a box set of spoken word recordings by singer and storyteller Utah Phillips. After that project, Smith and Haskell decided to create a label where they could work with young artists making traditional music and showcase often overlooked material like spoken word. The label's first official release was by the traditional Bosnian group Mostar Sevdah Reunion. Since 2006, the label has released music by Pokey LaFarge, Anna & Elizabeth, Hackensaw Boys, Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge, Cahalen Morrison, Che Apalache, Dori Freeman,, JP Harris, and The Two Man Gentlemen Band. Free Dirt also works with PM Press to co-release spoken word and folk music. Together they've put out lectures by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn and music from Chumbawamba, Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson, among others. The label also distributes a number of other roots labels including Jalopy, Big Muddy, Hi-Style, and Mashed Potato. Free Dirt is based in Takoma, Washington, D.C. and currently managed by Jonathan Een Newton and Cassie Michel.Roster
